Fantastic - a TenAgain AU
by NewDrWhoFan
Summary: Hocapontas suggested the following "Plunny": "At the end of the 10th Doctor's life he gets sent back in time to just when he regenerated to the 10th. He has somehow been given the opportunity to do it all over again with his memories intact of what was to come..." Begins his journey with Rose from the 2005 Children in Need special... Sort of. 10Rose. Work in progress.
1. TenAgain

_Hocapontas suggested the following "Plunny": "At the end of the 10th Doctor's life he gets sent back in time to just when he regenerated to the 10th. He has somehow been given the opportunity to do it all over again with his memories intact of what was to come..."_

 _So, alright :)_

 _This picks up and the end of my older story "The End of Ten", appropriately following on from the episode "The End of Time: Part Two"._

 _As yet un-beta'd._

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - TenAgain**

The Doctor was glad, he was so, so glad he had let the TARDIS twist his metaphorical arm to see Rose. He didn't care anymore what happened to him after he died - regenerated, whatever, it still felt like death. If the next him loved her any less, it would serve him right if remembering hurt. What he felt right now, it was so worth it. He wanted to freeze this stolen moment, even here in a dark alcove, in the snow, so that it would always be fresh. So that the way this him felt for her would never be diminished.

He staggered back against the wall as pain flared again. He gasped, and she was still close enough to hear. She turned, and spotted him.

"You alrigh', mate?" she asked.

He almost laughed for joy, despite the continuing pain. Of course she wasn't scared of the strange man lurking in the shadows. Or if she was, her concern instantly overrode her fear.

A few, all too brief words were exchanged, and he discovered why she was half-expecting to come across (apparently) inebriated neighbors. It was New Year's Day, 2005.

She would miss most of the year, once she decided to follow another strange man who would appear in a storeroom and take her hand.

It would be _fantastic_ , he mused. And he told her.

And she smiled.

She eventually disappeared behind the stairwell door, and he turned back towards the TARDIS. His body felt as if it were already tearing itself apart, and he still wasn't ready to go, but at least he wouldn't die alone. She would stay with him, he knew, now.

 _Fantastic_ , echoed in his mind.

Once again in the TARDIS, orbiting their favorite planet at what he hoped was a safe distance, he allowed the radiation sickness to take its final toll as an unfamiliarly magnified rush of regeneration energy overtook him. Vision obscured, he could still sense the devastation around himself and could picture his precious TARDIS suffering with him. But soon, the pain overwhelmed him, and a pull, even stronger than with his previous regenerations, tore him completely away from what he would come to remember as his Tenth self.

Except - as his consciousness returned to what should have been a newly-knit form, it felt all too familiar. As senses returned with the dulling of regeneration, it was with the strangest feeling of _deja vu_.

He flexed his fingers and knew before his newly-opened eyes could even tell him: that was his old hand - his _original_ hand.

What kind of regeneration was this?

He couldn't tell how long he had been staring at his wiggling fingers, wondering what had gone wrong with the regeneration lottery, before his mind sluggishly began taking in the other oddities. The TARDIS seemed healed, without any sign of the damage he had been sure his regeneration had inflicted. Despite what seemed to be the same old body, he had new clothes on. No, old clothes. An old jacket. His own, old, leather jacket.

And there was something more than regeneration, more than radiation. It was - was it? - the Time Vortex.

A gasp from a few steps away made him finally lift his head. He wasn't the only one in the console room. There, half-hidden behind a coral support strut was - ROSE!

His mind reeled, but at last pieced together the puzzle in true Time Lord fashion. Before she could even form a word, he dropped down on his knees right there at the console. "Fantastic," he whispered, reverently.

* * *

 _To be continued..._


	2. SuperHeated Infusion

_As yet un-beta'd._

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Super-Heated Infusion of Free-Radicals and Tannins!**

"Rose," the Doctor said, unable to look away from the miracle before him. He climbed slowly to his feet, desperately fighting the urge to run to her, knowing how scared she was - is - must be. His hearts were nearly beating out of his chest with the exhilaration of finding her, of being here, but he had to tread softly. "It was the Time Vortex," he explained carefully, recalling how his Ninth self had tried to prepare her, as well as feeling the continuing effects. "Like I said, I absorbed it, but my old body couldn't take it. I had to regenerate." He held his arms out, as if displaying himself as evidence. "It's a trick of the Time Lords," he explained, letting his hands fall back to his sides. "To save ourselves when we're dying. I had to change every single cell of my body, but it's still me." He took a single step towards her, and she didn't back away. "It's me, the Doctor."

He had the small hope that without acting as giddily as he had the first time 'round, high on regenerating as well as just plain surviving the Time Vortex, she might be more trusting and accept the change more readily.

He wanted to do this right.

He had somehow traded radiation sickness for regeneration sickness, and if he didn't treat it in time (he had less than three minutes before the symptoms should appear), Rose would be stuck in the Vortex with an unconscious Time Lord...

She still wasn't saying anything, so he tried to go with what he knew, reminding her of their first meeting. "Rose," he soothed, as he chanced a few more steps, just enough to reach her. "You remember? The first word I ever said to you?" He reached out gently to her hand, and she let him slide his fingers around it. "I took your hand in that cellar full of shop window dummies, and I said just one word, 'Run.'"

Her mouth opened slightly with another small gasp, and at last she said, "Doctor?"

The rush from her recognition was even greater than he recalled. He felt his face split into a wide grin as he echoed his original self. "Hello!" But unlike the first time, he wasn't letting her go just yet. Running off to Barcelona could wait - had to wait. Rose half slumped, understandably overwhelmed by all that had just happened. She didn't even remember yet all she had done after opening the Heart of the TARDIS... The Doctor moved to hold her arms. Would she trust him? "Rose?"

She shook her head gently, but looked him in the eye. "With all I've seen, I never thought - two heads, or no head, and then," she poked him in the chest, "you EXPLODED!" She leaned her head back against the coral strut, and let out a strangled sigh.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor told her, elated that she wasn't pulling away or accusing him of being Slitheen...

"Can ya change back?" she asked, not unexpectedly.

He shook his head. "I can't. I would if I in _any_ way could." Rose swallowed, but nodded. "You came back for me, and then I had to go and do this. I'm so sorry."

Rose frowned at that. "You were dyin'," she stated matter-of-factly. "Jus' glad you're here."

The Doctor smiled more gently at her as he stepped away, sliding one hand back to hold hers. "Rose Tyler," he began, then chuckled. "Rose Tyler!" He couldn't help himself, and moved back in to hug her tightly. "I can't possibly explain how good it feels to say your name again."

She wasn't quite returning the hug full force, but she laughed at his comment. "Alright..."

He reluctantly let her go. She looked understandably confused, but smiled at him. "I still need your help," he said.

She sobered instantly at that. "What's wrong?" she asked, reaching for his hand.

"It's a side effect of the Time Vortex," he told her, then gently tugged towards the hallway. ''I'll explain while we get some tea?" She followed along with him, until he stopped short, doubting himself. "Or," he told her, moving quickly to the console. The timeline was already slightly altered, to be sure, but best not to make too many drastic changes before he got a good handle on what had happened to him. "Let's just set the Old Girl moving before we go -" he set the coordinates for Christmas Eve, just as he had done before. "Ought to tell Jackie what a good cuppa she makes." He threw the last lever, then turned to find Rose staring at him strangely. "What's that look?" he asked.

"Jus', how much've you changed?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

He recognized the smile beneath her scowl, and realized how odd his generosity towards her mother must sound. "Enough," he answered, reaching for her hand and starting back towards the kitchen. "Just enough to appreciate the amazing healing effects of a super-heated infusion of free-radicals and tannins, thank you."

"Yeah, now that sounds more like you," she allowed as she followed.

* * *

 _To be continued..._


	3. Two Sugars, Three Sugars

**Chapter 3 - Two Sugars, Three Sugars  
**

Rose felt the Doctor moving in the TARDIS' kitchen behind her, but she kept her eyes on the kettle, waiting for the water to boil. The Doctor. The Doctor? Trick of the Time Lords... She had to remember he was an alien. Definitely an alien. Easy to forget, but still. Not with this daft old face. She loved that face. And now...

A new man - the same man; chocolate eyes that looked into hers in somehow exactly the same way as those familiar, crystal blue ones; a new hand that held hers in exactly the same way, thumb brushing over her wrist; Run...

Mugs clinked on the counter beside the stove as the Doctor set them down. He'd found the right mugs, their usual mugs, out of all the drink ware in the cupboards. He'd taken off the Doctor's - his? - leather jacket, Rose noticed out of the corner of her eye.

She had to figure this out. Could he be a mind-reading imposter? But he'd told her he was dying, that he had to change. Oh, where was Jack?

The kettle whistled, and she focused on preparing the tea, pouring the Doctor a mug with his typical two sugars. Was Jack even on the TARDIS? Did he do something to Jack, so that he could kidnap her and steal the TARDIS -

A gasp from behind her, and the scraping of a chair on the floor had Rose turning around before she'd finished the drinks. He was doubled over, clutching the back of a chair. "Doctor?!" she called, quickly moving over to him.

He looked up at her with a pained expression. "Fwa-aah," he told her.

"What?" she asked, wondering whether the TARDIS' translation circuits were on the blink.

"Regerneration sickness... starting," he panted. "The Time Vortex... I need..."

He gritted his teeth and groaned, leaning heavily on the chair.

"Tea," he gasped at last, before standing upright and emitting some sort of golden, glowy vapor from his mouth.

"Tea! Right," Rose told him, spinning around to grab his mug from the counter. She stirred the sugar into it, and rushed it into the Doctor's hands.

He took an immediate gulp, then grimaced and set the mug down on the table. "Ugh,' he said, before lifting his eyes to meet Rose's. "I mean, thanks," he told her. He seemed much steadier on his feet as he moved towards her, grasped her head in his hands, and placed a kiss on her forehead. Rose stood, blinking, watching him take the milk from the refrigerator and grab the sugar bowl on his way back to the table.

"Two sugars," Rose corrected him - accused, really - as he added the milk and extra sugar to his tea.

"Sorry," he told her, "lots of little things change with regeneration," he explained. "Just the little things. I'm me, I'm really me, but a whole new personality. New tea," he said, holding up the mug as evidence before draining it in one go. "Black coffee at breakfast, though," he added, sliding into a chair and setting the mug down on the table in front of him.

"Right," Rose breathed, as she turned back to the counter to fix her own cup.

* * *

The Doctor wasn't quite sure what to do next. Rose had been avoiding his eyes since they had reached the kitchen, and he had seemingly only distanced himself more with his "new" tea preferences...

His memories of what had happened the first time around were crystal clear, but how much dare he change things? Should he keep them mostly the same?

How did this _happen_? Had his older consciousness been psycho-grafted onto his newly regenerated mind? Could it be that he was actually compressing his former self, altering his own timeline? No... he could see into all the corners of his mind. It wasn't that. Still, he should run a scan in the med bay to be absolutely certain... Was this a completely alternate reality? One branching off from the moment of his regeneration after the GameStation?

The GameStation. The Time Vortex - could this be a side effect of absorbing the Time Vortex? Some sort of reality split? Or Bad Wolf? Was this something Rose might have done - intentionally or accidentally - actually creating some sort of a pocket universe?

He loved this universe, for right now, for this moment; whether it lasted or not, he loved it for this instant, for being able to sit in the TARDIS' kitchen with Rose, sipping tea from his and Rose's old mugs. Well, their mugs. They weren't exactly old, yet, were they? He hadn't broken his, she hadn't found that purple one on Velquist...

But as much as he loved now, he had to figure out, well, how? He didn't quite know where to begin.

The Doctor got up to pour himself another cup, feeling the healing effects, already. The Sycorax would be coming. Even if he recovered, here, on the TARDIS, that would only keep the Roboforms from hunting him. The Sycorax were out for earth, for human slaves. Torchwood... If he could convince Harriet Jones to let the Sycorax go... He'd still need to battle the Sycorax leader, wouldn't he? Could he do it without losing his hand?

What would _that_ do to the timeline? His hearts leapt at the prospect of not having to let Rose go, if only he could navigate events to keep her with him _and_ safe...

Should they get Jack, first? Even before risking stepping into events on Christmas Eve? Altered timeline or alternate reality, what would the effect be? If they tried to get Jack, what would they have to do to get the TARDIS to let him onboard without fleeing to the end of the universe... It had only been minutes since the ship had closed her doors and launched them into the Vortex, all on her own. The Doctor sat back down at the table with Rose. He would need to find the Master, "Yana"; he'd need to find him and figure out some way to help him...

But first things first...

Rose set down her mug after only a few sips, and raised her eyes to his.

"We should get Jack," the Doctor said.

At the same time, Rose asked, "Where's Jack?"

He grinned at her, as she gave him a shy, lopsided smile.

* * *

 _To be continued..._


	4. Changing Course

**Chapter 4 - Changing Course  
**

The Doctor watched a grin blossom on Rose's face, across the kitchen table from him. He felt a matching one stretch his own, brand new features, as he jumped to his feet.

His jeans slipped a bit low on his hips with the movement, and he looked down to reassess his outfit. "Ah," he said, quickly tightening his belt. "Mind if I change, first?" he asked. "Just my clothes," he reassured, realizing he'd just "changed" quite a bit, from her perspective.

Rose shook her head, as if to clear it. "Yeah, no, go ahead," she allowed.

The Doctor picked up his leather jacket from the chair back, weighing it in his hand.

He needed to do this right.

"I don't think this is quite my style, anymore," he said, casually. "But... maybe you could hang onto it for me?"

Rose gathered it into her arms, almost hugging the jacket to herself when he handed it to her. "Uh, yeah," she nodded.

The Doctor gave her an understanding smile. He wanted her to be comfortable with him being the same person; there was no room for jealousy over her missing the old him. But he was definitely searching out his old - new - suit.

As he made to leave the kitchen, Rose's voice called back to him. "Second door to the left," she told him.

The Doctor turned to her with a question on his lips, but she wasn't done.

"Go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left," she said, with a twinkle in her eyes. "Well, go on," she encouraged, when he only stood there, grinning at her. "Hurry up."

"Meet you in the console room in ten minutes!" he told her, then dashed out, heading for the wardrobe room, per her precise instructions.

* * *

Rose didn't head straight for the console room after the Doctor left. She sat at the kitchen table, looking between the Doctor's mug and his old, leather jacket.

Cheating death.

I'm gonna change.

Time Vortex.

The Doctor had almost killed himself, saving them from the Daleks. This was the only thing he could do to save himself.

Rose focused on her desperation to get back to him, even when she was certain he was facing the most impossible odds he could imagine. She hadn't wanted to leave him, even if - or especially - if he was dying.

But the Doctor had saved himself.

The Doctor was alive!

Alright, so, he had changed? He had asked her, back when she had first set foot in the TARDIS, whether it was okay that he was an alien.

Time to put her money where her mouth was, she supposed.

She looked at the mug, just a faint ring of milk-lightened tea left in the bottom (just the way her Mum took it). She smoothed her hand over the familiar leather in her arms.

He wasn't sending her away or anything. He was asking her to accept him.

They were going to get Jack.

Rose stood from the kitchen table and resolutely headed to her room.

She wanted to believe that this man really was her Doctor.

But she had to keep her head. How awful would it be to accept him, to fly off across the universe with him, only to discover later that the Doctor really had just been replaced and was somehow a prisoner somewhere?

But he had told her. He told her, right when she woke up. He told her. Cheating death. It means I'm gonna change.

I'm gonna change.

Rose hung his jacket in her closet, and left to find the Doctor.

* * *

The Doctor eyed the mallet, speculatively.

The TARDIS simply did not want to return for Jack.

As soon as he had finished inputting the coordinates, the TARDIS had shocked his fingers away from the console and scrambled the sequence.

"Oh, come on," he soothed aloud, deciding to forgo percussive persuasion for the time being. "Believe me, I know why you ran. I felt it, too; still do! But give him a chance. It's still Jack, he's just a little... wrong. Alright, a lot wrong, but -"

"A-hem."

The Doctor turned to find Rose standing hesitantly in the doorway to the console room. "No need to lurk in hallways," he told her. He noticed her looking him over as she stepped up to the captain's chair. Hands in his trouser pockets, he asked, "Whaddya think?"

"Very... different," she admitted.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile at that. "Good different, or bad different?" he asked.

There it was. There was that smile, the one he'd seen the first time he had stepped into the Tyler flat for Christmas dinner. "Jus' different, but, yeah, nice," she conceded, nodding her head. "Not bad. Yeah." She sat in the captain's chair, avoiding his eyes as she played with the cuff of her hoodie.

And was she blushing?

Rose composed herself, then met his eyes again. "So what's that you were sayin'?" she asked. "What's wrong with Jack? 'S he alright?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he turned to gesture towards the console. "Oh, the TARDIS is just being stubborn. He's fine. He's alive, perfectly healthy," he told her. How could he explain this to the TARDIS and to Rose? She hadn't remembered opening the Heart of the TARDIS until after she'd dreamt about it over Christmas... "What can you remember, right now, about getting back to the GameStation?" he asked, leaning forward on the console, but looking over his shoulder to Rose.

Rose stood, slowly walking up beside him to lay a hand on the console. "There was the light, and the singin'... sure didn't sound like you, by the way," she told him.

The Doctor nodded his head to the side, guiltily. "I may have fibbed a little bit, there. Yeah. Frightening it may be, but it takes more than my singing to defeat Daleks."

Rose smiled, rolling her eyes, but still kept her gaze shyly lowered to the console. She traced the controls with her fingers, careful not to change the settings.

"You used the power of the TARDIS to bring her back to the GameStation," the Doctor explained. Rose didn't look away from the console, but her hand stilled. "You looked into the Heart of the TARDIS, and the TARDIS looked into you, is how you put it."

The Doctor turned to watch her, leaning his hip against the console and crossing his arms. Her respirations had increased, and he could see her hanging on his words.

"The infinite power of the Time Vortex itself, Rose. You took it, and used it to come back to me."

* * *

 _To be continued..._

 _Remember, this is a side project for me, so I'm not updating super-frequently. Questions/suggestions are likely to direct future chapters and/or impact other stories, so please keep 'em coming!_


	5. Bad Wolf

_Many thanks, once more, to **Hocapontas** for prompting this story. So many of my readers have mentioned seeing stories where Rose goes back, but never the Doctor..._

 _Also, a bit of encouragement: part of the original prompt was the stipulation that "Doomsday" does NOT separate the Doctor and Rose. So, rest assured :)_

* * *

 **Chapter** **5 - Bad Wolf  
**

"And you saved me."

Rose's mind was racing, trying to place what the Doctor was telling her.

She had been back on the Estate, the message: BAD WOLF, her Mum and Mickey had been helping her to open the TARDIS' console. The Heart of the TARDIS. The Doctor had SENT HER AWAY. She had needed to convince the ship to go back for the Doctor. She'd known if she could only ask the right way... She raised her eyes to the Doctor's, sure her confusion showed on her face. "I don't remember -"

"You saved everyone," the Doctor told her. "Me, Jack, the whole earth. Blasted the Daleks to dust, with just a wave of your hand."

She had thought the TARDIS must have done everything. The console had opened, the light, and the singing, and WE HAVE TO SAVE THE DOCTOR, and she woke up with him calmly back at the controls... "How? I don't -" she told him with a small shake of her head.

The Doctor glanced down, murmuring, "I wish you could've had the time to process..." He raised his head again and reached out, standing away from the console, and Rose placed her hands in his. "You and the TARDIS were linked - much closer than I normally am to her," he explained. "A Time Lord can see into the Time Vortex, the infinite possibilities, life and death, but you..." He shook his head, with an expression Rose could only describe as awe on his face. "You took that power into your body, your human body, with your beautiful, oh-so-human heart, and you used that power as only a human could. It was killing you to do it, but in that short time you even brought Jack back to life. He'd already fallen to the Daleks before you'd come back."

"I what?" Rose asked, blinking at him. "I -" she looked away, and the Doctor squeezed her hands gently. Back to life? "I can't remember," she admitted, looking back to him. "Jus' that real bright, warm, light and that sound - was that her? The TARDIS?"

The Doctor nodded.

"I knew she could read thoughts, do things like with Blon... But Jack, 's he alright, then?" she asked. "You said he's alive and healthy? Somethin' wrong with that, besides," she gulped, bracing herself to say the words, "that he wasn't for a while? Did I do it wrong or somethin'?"

The Doctor let one hand slip free of hers to reach for the back of his neck. "Trust you to get right to the point, Rose Tyler," he said, with a gentle shake of his head.

Rose's free hand went to her hip as she raised an eyebrow for him to elaborate.

"Alright, well, let's just say you saved him really, really, well," the Doctor assured her. "And... having a human's limited knowledge of the complexities of life and whatnot," Rose swallowed hard, wondering if she'd messed up like Chula, never-seen-a-human nanogenes, "but suddenly becoming the Bad Wolf, a limitless _goddess_ of Time and Space, you might have gone a little, well, overboard and brought him back... permanently?"

Rose blinked slowly. "Permanently," she repeated. Did he actually mean... "Like, immortal?"

"Practically," the Doctor answered her with a nod. "Maybe not forever-immortal, but millions, billions of years? Very likely."

Not only had she somehow resurrected Jack, but she had done what? Her mouth dropped open, unable to put her thoughts into words. Until, that is, one thought forced its way to the forefront of her mind. "Why'd we leave 'im?!" Rose gasped.

"The TARDIS ran away from him," the Doctor told her, then hung his head. "And I was happy to let her run," he admitted. Then, he looked between her and the Time Rotor. "He's a fact. An unchangeable, fixed thing, and that's not something TARDIS'es are used to having to deal with - Time Lords, either. I've been trying to change her mind -"

"What changed yours?" Rose asked. "This -" she gestured at his whole, pinstripe-clad, fluffy-haired, Converses and swirly-tie, new self.

"Regenerating?" The Doctor supplied.

"Yeah, regeneratin'," she nodded. He had said little things changed, but he was the same man. "You're still a Time Lord. How comes you're willin' to go back, now?"

The Doctor tugged on his ear, watching her closely, before answering. "I guess you could say, in a way, thanks to the way this regeneration went... I saw things? I understand things a little more clearly - a lot more, actually. It's a bit more than I think I can explain at the moment."

Rose nodded her understanding, even though she wasn't sure she was entirely following his partial explanation. "Long as we're goin' back for him," she allowed.

"And therein lies the problem," the Doctor sighed, slipping his hand from hers to turn back to the console. He turned a dial, and the TARDIS zapped him away. "She won't let me." He leaned on his hands, again, hanging his head. Then, with a grunt of frustration, he pounded the console with his fists. "C'mon! Rose wants to go back! Won't you do it for her?!"

Rose swallowed, bracing herself for what she was about to offer. "Do ya think she might really? If we were connected like ya said, maybe if you showed me what to do, maybe she wouldn't shock me away?"

"Worth a shot," the Doctor affirmed, stepping aside and gesturing her towards the controls. "She'd definitely lower the voltage, at least," he added.

With that last bit of encouragement, Rose moved towards the panel, pushing buttons and flipping switches as the Doctor pointed. No complaints from the TARDIS, yet...

The Doctor stood behind her to give his directions, and Rose realized she had zero complaints about his closeness. He wasn't putting any moves on her, but somehow in the brush of a hand or bump of his shoulder, he was familiar and affectionate like her old Doctor - maybe even more than she remembered. She tried again to reconcile her memory with his description of events, one, particular point that he had mentioned about her becoming the Bad Wolf suddenly bringing a smile to her face.

Rose followed the Doctor when he dashed to another section of the console, taking her place as he gestured to the appropriate controls. "So, a 'goddess', huh?" she asked, without meeting his eyes.

* * *

 _To be continued..._


	6. Come on, Come on, Work!

**Chapter 6 - Come on, Come on, Work!**

The Doctor thought back to the staggering sight of Rose, shining and enfolded in the energy of the Time Vortex. And now, here she was again in his arms, with her long hair and hoodie, piloting the TARDIS for him and teasing him about calling her a goddess? "Oh, Rose," he sighed, one hand sliding around her waist from behind her as he spoke close to her ear, "'goddess' doesn't even begin to describe you."

He reveled in the smallest details: the tickle of stray blonde hairs, the brush of her hoop earring against his cheek. His lips were mere millimeters from her neck when the Doctor realized Rose's soft gasp expressed more surprise than he was expecting.

He froze, then abruptly pulled back, silently berating himself for somehow forgetting when he was. "Sorry," he said aloud, taking half a step back and burying his hands in his trouser pockets. "I'm sorry. 7-3-2-9," he instructed, nodding to the keypad in his most professionally detached manner.

He had only the barest hope that she was believing he was himself, and here he was about to start necking in the console room before she had even recalled their life-and-death kiss on the GameStation.

The memories didn't even exist of Rose's careful, gentle development of their increased familiarity in his current form...

"Uh, yeah," Rose answered, shaking herself. "7-3-2-9?" she repeated as she pressed the corresponding keys. Then she glanced back at him, over her shoulder. "An' don't be," she said.

"How's that?" the Doctor asked.

"Ya don't haveta be sorry," she told him with a tongue-touched grin.

The Doctor swallowed hard as his hearts swelled. It had taken him challenging the Sycorax for the fate of the earth in order for her to trust him, the first time around. Now, they hadn't even left the Vortex and she was actually flirting? He must be doing something right, after all.

"Now, what?" she asked, hands hovering over the console.

With a slow smile, the Doctor stepped up behind her and wordlessly guided her hand to the final lever. Rose turned her head into his shoulder, but the Doctor reluctantly stepped back, lest the TARDIS resume her electrified protests at his involvement. "Alright, give it a try," he prompted.

Rose took a deep breath, murmured, "Don't shock me, don't shock me," and activated the control.

They could have been in the middle of a Rentillion casino, for the display the TARDIS put on. Rose was spared any electrocution, but the console lights flickered in protest, dials spun, and levers and switches flipped back out of position like a slot machine gone mad.

* * *

Rose stepped quickly back from the console, dismayed as every component but the Time Rotor itself seemed to come to life, undoing all her careful work. She jumped when the Doctor shouted from behind her.

"Oh, come ON!" the Doctor exclaimed, grabbing fistfuls of his new, brown hair. Before he could do much damage - it seemed like some pretty great hair, actually - he released it to reach imploringly towards the now silent console. "It's just Jack! You'd love him forever if he saved you from a year as a paradox machine."

It was just Jack, Rose agreed. Despite the Doctor's description of their friend's wrongness, Rose couldn't help but wonder whether there might not be something else worrying the TARDIS. "You ever regenerated before?" she asked, turning towards the Doctor with a single hand resting on the console. "That how you got to be nine hundred without lookin' like Yoda?"

"Yes," the Doctor laughed, dropping his arms. "Time Lords age slowly, but eventually we'd need to rejuvenate, even if we aren't mortally wounded." He tugged thoughtfully at one of his not-quite-as-prominent ears. "I honestly would have gotten around to telling you, eventually. I just hadn't expected it to come up so soon."

"And... the TARDIS never had any trouble with it, before?" she checked. "Ya don't think it's this new you that's throwin' 'er off?"

"No, well," the Doctor paused rather than denying it outright. He looked towards the Time Rotor as he stepped up to Rose's side. "This regeneration was a little stranger than most, what with the whole Time Vortex and, well, stuff..."

He trailed off, and and Rose imagined he was trying to talk to the ship, again.

The Doctor shook his head, at last, tapping his fingers lightly on the console. "She let me earlier, no problem, when we were originally headed back to your Mum. No, I think she's just plain skittish."

Rose smoothed her hand along the console. "I wish we could talk to her, properly." She turned to look at the Doctor. "I'm not suggestin' openin' her up, again. I get that, somehow. It's... like... forbidden. All other avenues explored, first."

She glanced up to see the Doctor looking strangely at her.

"What?" she asked.

"All other avenues, you said," the Doctor answered, loosely folding his arms. "You know the TARDIS can normally get in your head, so to speak. The telepathic circuits allow her to translate languages for you, adjust your room's temperature, get the coffee just right?"

"Yeah," Rose nodded, "but we can't actually have a flat out, back-'n-forth conversation."

"True," the Doctor allowed, "but like you said about me changing my mind. I know in my head that going back for Jack is the right thing to do, but I've still got that subconscious, ingrained, in-my-gut prejudice making me wish we didn't have to. And the TARDIS can sense that, so my coaxing her isn't really working. But you..."

"I'm not time-prejudiced," Rose responded, "but I'm not connected to her, either."

The corner of his mouth tipped up in a half-smile. "But you could be."

"How?"

"Just temporarily. I could... I mean... I've never - and I'm not even sure -"

She laid her hands on his arms and gently but firmly told him, "Spit it out."

He uncrossed his arms, catching her hands in his own. "I could connect to you telepathically and give your communication with the TARDIS a boost so that you could try and talk her into tolerating Jack."

She could see it in his eyes. The Doctor recognized this for exactly what it was: the moment of truth.

Did she really believe he was her Doctor? Did she trust him enough to try something more personal, more intimate, than anything she'd let her Doctor do before?

"Yes."

Even though it had been his suggestion, the Doctor still looked shocked that she would accept. But in that instant, Rose was sure she knew her own mind. She stepped even closer to him and smiled, certain she could see her Doctor in his eyes. It was that same, stripped-bare expression she'd witnessed across a cabinet room table at 10 Downing Street - so she knew exactly what to say, next.

She gave his hands a squeeze. "What you waitin' for?" she asked.

* * *

 _To be continued..._


	7. Memory Lane

**Chapter 7 - Memory Lane**

Rose met the Doctor's gaze as steadily as she could. To be honest, she was pretty much floored by the look in his eyes. It was as if he'd bundled together all those glances she'd caught from her old Doctor, him, this - _the_ Doctor, the same man as the Doctor from before; all the little looks that might have held approval, pride, flirtation, affection; it was like he'd gathered them all together and forgotten to close the shutters, leaving her with flat out, well, adoration seemed a good word for it.

He gently pulled his hands from her grasp and lifted them, fingers splayed, towards the sides of her head. "Okay," he breathed, "Just focus on Jack," he told her, and Rose blinked. Really? Did she have to? It seemed like it might be a whole lot more interesting to focus on just the two of them, right now. But she nodded, knowing they had a mission. Jack was lost, abandoned. They'd abandoned him. She steadied herself and focused, like the Doctor was telling her. "The best parts of why you want to go back for him," he prompted, "why you trust him. I'll help steer your memories a little, but it's your mind, your feelings and instincts that the TARDIS needs to sense."

Rose nodded, "Alright. So, what, just think it at you? How's this work?" she asked, glancing between his hands still hovering at her temples. Was he doing it already? "'M I gonna know when ya start?" There certainly seemed to be something of an electric charge between them, but that could easily be completely unrelated to the telepathy and more along the lines of something she shouldn't be letting distract her just now. Wow, his eyes were dark. She still wanted to say chocolate, but there was that Time Lordy otherness to them that didn't seem like it should be compared to a simple confection. And he actually had freckles -

"You'll know," he replied. "I should only see what you're trying to remember; I won't go digging. Anything you really don't want me to see, just imagine it's safe behind a door."

He was hesitating, Rose realized. He didn't think she knew what she was getting herself into. "What," she asked, giving him her best, cheeky smirk, "ya think I pried open a mega-dimensional, time-and-space ship because I wasn't sure? Of you? Of... where I'm s'posed to be?"

He looked like she'd just given him the best Christmas present - no, more than that, like she'd just found his favoritest ever gift that he'd lost when he was a kid and never thought he'd ever see again. "Rose Tyler..." His fingers gently touched her face, one thumb brushing affectionately across her cheek.

Then, he closed his eyes.

An image of herself, but glowing golden. "I want you safe. My Doctor." Bad Wolf.

A limitless goddess of time and space, he'd said.

Bad Wolf girl, I could kiss you!

A feeling of awe, of unworthiness, of devotion, of... yeah, definitely love.

Her own mind (because she somehow knew she'd been seeing a glimpse of the Doctor's) flashed back to running out of the chippy, leaving her Mum and Mickey, needing to do something, ANYTHING, to get back to him.

To her Doctor.

Hers.

"Try to focus on Jack," the Doctor's voice reminded her.

"You sent her home," Jack's voice echoed. "She's safe. Keep working." That was not Rose's memory - it must have been the Doctor's, after his emergency program -

"But he will ex-ter-mi-nate you!" Oh, how she hated that voice, that hideous, Dalek voice.

Burning, destroying, dying!

Not her thought, not the Doctor's... the TARDIS? The Doctor was trying to boost Rose's connection to the TARDIS -

"Never doubted him," Jack's voice rejoined confidently, "never will." She felt the Doctor's feelings, pride conflicting with guilt at Jack's declaration.

"You are worth fighting for;" Jack's parting kiss. Definitely her memory.

"I was much better off as a coward." Jack again, she remembered that, but the memory had to be from the Doctor.

"Good," the Doctor spoke, and Rose blinked open her eyes, not having realized she'd closed them. His were still lidded as he directed, "That's good. Remember your time together, what he's done for you, why the TARDIS let him in to begin with."

"Yeah." Rose closed her eyes.

"Most people notice when they've been teleported," Jack teased. Pride in being right in her guess about Jack's character. Relief at being rescued. Really a shame she didn't have a reason to stay in the Doctor's arms... "You guys are so sweet."

Jack sitting astride a World War II bomb, held in mid-air by his own ship's tractor beam. "Good lad!" the Doctor congratulated him, pleasantly surprised by his own pride in the conman, and an unexpected welling of hope.

"I'm not brave!" Jack insisted to her, as they hid around the bend in the corridor on San Kaloon. Then, belying his own words, he charged right out into the the midst of the Doctor's captors, armed only with Rose's cell phone, held out like some kind of blaster.

"I saw the list of the dead." Rose's mind reeled at the differences between the Jack she had known and this suddenly much, much older version. It had to be the Doctor's perspective, somehow, because he didn't actually look too much older to her and she could feel what had to be the Doctor's time-revulsion. The future? Could Time Lords have memories of the future?

Further, further, further, a not-a-voice almost whimpered. It was the TARDIS, again, almost childlike in her echoing of the Doctor's aversion to Jack. Was she letting them catch glimpses of what lay ahead?

But there was another kind of dread, Rose noticed, layered on top of the Doctor's own pit-of-the stomach feeling, something about what Jack had said -

"It said Rose Tyler."

"Oh, no! Sorry, she's alive!" came the Doctor's answer - this Doctor, without his Northern accent; but his hearts clenched in contrast to his enthusiastic response. Why was she on a list of the dead? What was the Doctor trying to hide if she was fine?

"You're kidding," Jack breathed, elated. And the Doctor mentally chided himself for his stubborn, Time Lord instincts that would have him betray Rose's love for the former Time Agent.

All your time together, start to finish. The Doctor's voice, but in her mind, rather than spoken aloud.

"Sayounara, Go-Daigo!" Rose announced, as she, Jack, and the Doctor pushed the TARDIS' doors closed in the face of the deposed Emperor. It was the Doctor's memory, but one that she shared. It was just before the GameStation. Right after they'd escaped from the samurai.

"Farewell, Kyoto!" Jack announced, embracing them both before the Doctor slipped out and moved back up the entry ramp towards the console. "Can't believe he left you all to myself," Jack told her, quickly scooping Rose up into a feet-swinging hug. Her own memory now, but laced with the Doctor's feelings - not jealousy as much, but... keeping his distance? Wistfulness?

"Oh, go on, Doctor," one woman encouraged, while the other quite clearly mouthed "NO" to him. "Sarah Jane Smith and Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board." (Mickey back on the TARDIS? And when had her hair ever been that short? Future, again?)

Tamping down on the panic and yearning, and clinging to the chance he could somehow let Rose go just like Sarah Jane, but happy, and maybe Mickey would give her that, but how could he ever really let her go? "Alright then, I could do with a laugh," he answered, avoiding Rose's eyes as casually as he could manage. Of course, if she somehow still chose him over Mickey...

Every time, Rose thought to herself, and to anyone else currently aware of her thoughts.

Rose and the Doctor stumbled across the TARDIS' threshold. Rose shook her head at Jack as he clambered over the pair of them to push the ship's doors firmly closed against the uproarious Atrantian locals. "I swear, Jack," she warned, "one more bondage pun -"

"Oh, I've got loads more than one, Rosie," he crowed, making no move to help her disentangle herself from the Doctor. "Personally, I'd say just roll with it. Treat it like a binding marriage, and we'll all be a whole lot happier."

The TARDIS felt as though she wholeheartedly agreed.

The Doctor somehow managed to get them flipped around on the entry ramp grating without either crushing Rose or banging her head on anything, despite the cords securing Rose's left leg to the Doctor's right, and her right ankle to the Doctor's left. "Sonic," was all he said.

Jack obediently tossed the screwdriver to the Doctor, who immediately set to work on undoing the intricate knots.

"He said 'binding'," Rose observed. "Can I kill 'im?" she asked the Doctor.

A wave of protective affection for Jack from the TARDIS.

"Can't say he doesn't deserve it," the Doctor replied, despite the ship's say in the matter. What makes ya think I'd ever ask her for somethin' like that, he thought, as if the TARDIS didn't already know his own mind.

The Doctor held out a trench-coat-and-pinstripes-clad arm. "May I?" he asked the attendant, who relinquished the tapered rod to him.

Rose's ring size... The Doctor eyed the shimmering, silvery ring in the display case while he held the jeweler's rod between the fingers of his right hand, just as if it were Rose's hand clasped in his. He positioned it carefully, making sure the feel was just right. Noting the appropriate diameter, he handed it back to the attendant.

Remember Jack...

Jack, and the Sarah Jane person, again, this time in a crowded TARDIS console room, with an apparently older version of her future self and the Doctor in a blue variant of the suit he now wore, and... Mickey? Her Mum? A ginger-haired woman pulled Sarah Jane away from Jack so she could hug him herself.

Jack...

"Now, you stand right here, Rose. Got me?" Jack held her upper arms, positioning her just so, on the rooftop terrace in one of Grajick Major's capital cities. She was avoiding the Doctor's eyes (blue, once again), afraid that he might see she was hoping for more than just tolerating Jack's matchmaking games.

Good job, Rose, the Doctor mentally encouraged.

She wondered just how much of her own feelings he could sense, considering what he was showing her of himself. Did he realize he was showing her anything?

"And Doctor, no arguments," Jack commanded, turning to position the Doctor opposite Rose. The Doctor's hopefulness. Yearning to play along just as far as fate might allow. "Cozy as this is, no way I'm getting between you two on New Year's," Jack declared, slipping out from the narrow space that separated them. "That there," he said to himself, bringing Rose's hands up to the Doctor's shoulders. He settled the Doctor's at Rose's waist. "That there. Now!" he said, rubbing his hands together, looking around the crowded rooftop. "Gotta find my own someone to kiss. Or someones. Twenty seconds to midnight... great way to start a great year!"

Pain!

Unbelievable pain, but just a memory, the Doctor's memory. Fighting off the urge to regenerate, his body burning up, in stark contrast to the image of Rose, fighting off the cold of the snowy night.

"Blimey, how much've you had?" Rose asked, arms huddled to herself. "Two thousand an' five, January the first," she told him, patiently.

"Two thousand and five," the Doctor repeated (in his new, Estuary accent), his hearts aching to snatch her away and keep her all to himself, timelines or no.

Remember this, remember her, here, now, real - the TARDIS, again. She'd brought him. That's why he had to ask the date -

"Tell you what," he said, resigned. "I bet you're gonna have a really great year."

Rose gasped, wrenching her eyes open as the Doctor's presence at the edge of her mind vanished. He was already turned away from her, beaming up a the Time Rotor.

"Oh, that's it, that's it! Brilliant!" He glanced back at Rose, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder. "You did it, Rose! Two hundred, one hundred; look out, Jack, here we come!"

Rose stared at him. 2005. New Year's Eve. That drunk in the snow. What year is this. The Doctor, before she'd ever met him, he'd found her, this him had found her. After he'd lost her?

"Rose?" He'd turned fully toward her, searching her eyes, concern written clearly across his face.

His suddenly familiar face.

"You alright?" he asked, gently grasping both her shoulders. "You're not a naturally strong telepathic species. It can take some getting used to, and with the TARDIS in the mix it must be extra disorienting, trying to keep a sense of your own mind -"

Rose reached out for his swirly-patterned necktie and pulled him into a very single-minded kiss.

The sound of the steadily pumping Time Rotor was suddenly the only noise in the console room as the Doctor's arms slid securely around Rose.

* * *

 _To be continued..._

 _Yeah, yeah, I'm working on "Blink" and the other stories, too... :)_


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